House-dress or other garment.



M. E. MCKEVITT & M COHEN.

HOUSE DRESS OR OTHER GARMENT.

APPucAnoN mar; Nov. 5, 191].

1,29 1,048, Yatented Jan. 14, 1919 UNITED s'rjarns PATENT onrron.

MARIE E. MoKEVITT AND MARK oonmv, or eosron, MASSACHUSETTS ;f sar MoKEVITT ASSIGNOR T SAID COHEN.

HOUSE-DRESS OR OTHER GARMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 5, 1917. Serial No. 200,239.

' To all whom may concern:

Be it known that we, MARIE E. McKEvrrr and MARK COHEN, both citizens of the United States of America, and both residents of Boston, in the county of Sulfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented newand useful Improvements in House-Dresses or other Garments, of which the following isa specification. v

This invention relates to ready made garments of the type in which the waist portion is readily extensible, so that a comparatively limited range of sizes of the garment held in stock will suflice to provide for the varying needs of purchasers of many different figures.

Heretofore structures of this general nature have generally been dependent upon woven elastic tapes so-called, comprising a woven, braided or knit textile fabric having a longitudinal rubber or other elastic member or a metallic retractile spring; and the construction of garments of this type heretofore in use, so far as we are aware, has been.

based upon inclusion of such an elastic or tape in a pocket formed integrally with one of the structural pieces of the garment asv sewed together for sale and use. For the desired purpose such elastic tapes are unsatisfactory for lack of durability; the prior construction housing them is still more unsatisfactory for lack of lending itself well to attractive design in the manufacture of such garments, the necessary flat integral gathered pocket for the elastic not being adaptable to any arrangement which could give the garment an attractive appearance. Purposes of our invention are to provide such a garment with a readily extensible and retractable section adapted to be comfortably adjusted to the body and so made as to constitute efiective means for holding the waist portion of the garment snugly to the body of. the wearer, the construction being such as to permit a separate belt if desired as well as the waist of the garment proper to be retracted by an adjustable inelastic or by a resilient section and so be held to fit, the invention comprising a structure housing the retracting means which shallin itself be an ornamental addition to the garment instead of integral with and a detriment to its appearance.

, In the accompanying drawings,-'

Figure 1 is a back view of a garment cor- Patented Jan-14i1919.

responding to the invention illustrating the I adjustable section fully extended;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2-;

Fig. 1 is a detail illustrating the waist portion of the garment with the tion retracted, the belt section at one side being removed and Fig. 5 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 2 showing an inelastic retracting member.

In theparticular embodiment of our invention illustrated, which is typical of other embodiments also containing the invention,

the waist l and the skirt 2 may be made as usual, for instance having front breadths 3 oined at the waist by desired, felled seam spectively joined at the waist by a continuation of the seam 4. As so constructed the garment is continuous at the waist. On the inside of the garment the seam 4 may include a finishing tape 7 if desired.

In order to provide for adjustment at the waist, about one-third of the linear Width of the garment at the waist line of the back breadths 5 and 6 of the waist and skirt respectively are gathered or fulled into the seam 4 at the middle of theback of the'waist, and a casing S for a retracting member is included in this portion of the seam 4. To

obtain the advantages following our inventhe seam 4, but to provide for such member adjustable sec- 70. a strong sewed and, if i 4, and having back breadths 5 and 6 of the waist and skirt reabove or below the seam 4, in such a manner that the casing may form one of the elementsof a projecting ornament giving the garment its characteristic of style without preventing the function of inducing the back breadths to remain retracted or gathered together, eX- cept when the retracting member is permitted to be lengthened. For instance, as shown in Figs. 1 to 4:, the casing 8 extends above the waist seam 4 as to provide a ruflFled heading 9 above that part of the Casing which is actually occupied by an elastic member 10. For such an elastic member'we prefer to use a wire spring lO'which may have a textile core, core and spring being adapted to be fastened at their ends as at 12,

Fig. 2, to one or both walls of the casing 8, by sewing or otherwise. Such springs are of old use, and we do not herein claim the construction of the spring member as a part of our invention.

When such a spring is in use, as preferred, the casing 8 may be narrowed about the spring by a line of stitching 13, thus preventing the spring from riding into the free part of the heading 9. The seam 13 also serves to hold the heading 9 against the waist portion 5 at one edge.

As shown in Fig.1 the upper edge of the rufiled heading 9 defines a line which is the natural line of the upper edge of the waist belt of such a garment. life may attach a waist belt in continuation of the rufiie 9 about the waist portion of the garment in any desired manner, but we prefer as shown to provide a separate divided belt 14, 15, having its longitudinal middle in line with the elastic member 10 and attached thereto so as to enable stress on the belt to stretch the spring 10.

One way of doing this is to provide a button 16 attached to the belt portion 14, 15, the casing 8 and the resilient member 10 by sewed stitches 17 passing around the spring 10. The free ends of the belt portions-14, 15, may be provided with any suitable form of fastener such as a button 18 and buttonhole 19 respectively on section 14 and in the sec-' tion 15.

If so desired the position of the heading 9 as above mentioned may be shifted so as to cause it to depend instead of stand upwardly and away from the waist seam 4. In this case, preferably the waist seam 4 is sewed with the waist portion of the garment folded outside ofthe skirt portion,

and in that case the free belt 14, 15, will have its upper edge in line wit-l the waist seam and its loweredge in line with the free edge of the heading 9, the construction otherwise being the same. Gther variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art.

In use, the structural attached heading 9 of the casing 8 for the resilient member 10 stands out and away from the garment, thereby to define a continuation of the free and unattached belt 14, 15; when the garmentis w'orn the resilient member 10 able to tighten both it and the belt upon the wearer to accomplish the desired result of fitting persons of different figures equally well. The free belt enables the wearer to adjust the positionof the garment on the body by pulling on the belt ends while the spring is still extended; so that when the belt is released and fastened the garment will retract to a comfortable and symmetrical relation to the body.

tuted for the spring 10, an opening being provided in the casing at 21 through which the ends of the cords 20 project for tying in adjusted relation.

What we claim is: V

1. A garment of the type having a waist and skirt and a retractable portion at the waist including a retracting member, characterized by a casing for said member fas tened to the waist and skirt portions of the garment, said casing comprising a heading exterior to and projecting from the main portion of the garment, and discontinuous belt-portions fastened to each end of the casing and retracting member, whereby the exposed heading and casing adjusted by the assembled belt continue the line of the belt.

2. A. garment of the type having a waist and skirt and an extensible and retractable portion at the waist including a retracting member, characterized by a casing for said member fastened to the waist and skirt portions of the garment, said casing comprising a heading projecting from the main portion of the garment, and a belt free from any other attachment to the garment fastened to each end of said casing and retracting member.

3. A garment of the type having a waist portion and a skirt portion joined by a seam and aretractile section at the waist comprising a casing sewn into a part of the waist seam and lying between the waist and skirt portions, at said part, said casing having a free projecting heading, a spring retracting member included in said casing, and a belt portion fastened at each end to said spring and easing, whereby to expose said heading and easing, said retracting member being substantially central of the belt, and said heading continuing the line of one of its edges.

Signed by us at Boston, Massachusetts,

this 30th day of October, 1917.

MARIE n. iuexnvrrr. MARK cones.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the fcommissioner of Patents,

" Washington, D. G. 

